I am working out and eating well and GAINING weight! Help!

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kimandal99
kimandal99 Posts: 52
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,
I have been on a strict fitness/ eating schedule since February and was able to lose over 25 pounds. I started at 150lbs, and was down to 122lb. I am working out every single day- (I don't allow myself a break becuase I need the calorie burn.) I am running an average of 35 miles a week, doing a 55 min spin class twice a week, and doing a gravity strength (weights/ pilates) class once a week. I very rarely eat all of my excersize calories, so I am typically under by 300-400 calories every day. And now, within the last two months, I am starting to put on weight again. I am up to 130lbs which makes no sense to me what so ever. I have never worked out this much in my life and am eating way better than I ever have (no pasta, limited bread, no fries, burgers etc.) I do however drink red wine a few times a week (probably 5 glasses total a week) so maybe this is my problem with calories- although I do count them in my daily totals.

Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I would love to reach my original goal weight of 120lb but would be satisfied with 125. And if I do get back there, when can I ever just live without dieting and stay at the same weight? Seems like I will always be working out this hard and restricting myself on what I can eat for life!

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I am desperate to understand what I am doing wrong.

Replies

  • KittyCathy
    KittyCathy Posts: 36 Member
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    you are probably gaining muscle from working out so much lol
  • Yarnpiggie
    Yarnpiggie Posts: 181
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    when you say you are under by 300-400 calories every day, are you netting under 1200 each day?
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Let me see your food diaries please....
  • LovingMe19
    LovingMe19 Posts: 380 Member
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    Not eating your exercise calories, sounds like your putting your body into starvation mode so its holding on to whatever you eat. Try eating more calories. I hit a plataeu recently and was only losing like .3 pounds a week. I started eat about 200-300 more calories a day and had a loss of 1.4 pounds on my next weigh in day. Give it a try!
  • CMcBryer
    CMcBryer Posts: 139 Member
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    It could just be that you are gaining muscle. A much better judge of health and fitness is fat percentage and measurements. The scale isn't the be-all end-all. :)
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    I have heard and been told that the lower you get to your goal weight the better it is to eat your workout cals.
  • ChellieIrish
    ChellieIrish Posts: 593 Member
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    This was posted by a buddy of mine and it really explains the calories you need to eat :wink: You are working out a lot and your body needs fuel to keep going :heart:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KarenBorter/view/get-your-head-right-49593
  • 9194lisa
    9194lisa Posts: 6
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    I was in a similiar situation and learned that (1) changing up the exercise helped and (2) adding back some fat in my diet helped. Counterintuitive for sure, since I was hiking 26 miles a week and staying below my calories, which was supposed to work! But I guess your body hits plateaus and adjusts by slowing down metabolism, so you need to jump start it by shaking things up. BTW, keep drinking that glass of wine -- they are good calories in so many ways :wink: And congrats on what you've accomplished so far!
  • CraftyGirl4
    CraftyGirl4 Posts: 571 Member
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    First of all, I think you need to take the day to rest. Are you sleeping at least 8 hours a day? It sounds like you are working out so hard, that you're not allowing yourself enough time to relax. Your body only builds muscle when you're sleeping so if you're not sleeping enough, guess what isn't happening? :-)

    Second, do you feel like you're gaining fat or muscle? If you find you are sleeping enough and seem to be gaining muscle instead of fat, that's great. You should gain some weight. Muscle weighs more than fat. A body fat calculation or taking your measurements might be a better indication of your overall progress if that is the case. Don't be 100% focused on the number on the scale. Your goal of 120 might be good for your height (I don't know since you didn't provide us with that info) but you also have to remember that every height/weight range is a range for a reason. You can even exceed your height/weight range if you're gaining because of muscle.

    It also sounds like you're greatly restricting your carb intake. It's ok to control your carbs, but also remember that you need carbs for muscle growth. It's a fact of life. I often work out at night, so I eat most of my carbs right now at night as well so there is plenty of fuel for muscle building while I sleep.
  • tishamarieann
    tishamarieann Posts: 12
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    Your working out way to much and not giving your body the calories it truely needs, therefore if your body does'nt think your going to give it what it needs it will store fat for later, and you will gain, you need to be eating at least 1400 calories a day if your working out even 4 times a week. Stop working out everyday its insaine, i was doing the same thing and not loosing weight, yes muscle verses fat is the issue, but do you want to be muscular or weigh less, you need to decide. I took it down to 5 a week at the most and started to lose again, I am also 130 working down to the 120's so been there done that, i was 180 originally. Salt may be a factor on the scale also even when were eating great, lots of things are packed with it, what is your mg's a day? How much water are you getting, and if you dont watch your sugar on this site add it, sugar is in everything,everywhere, and if you are over on your sugar each day you will gain its worse than fat.

    When something is not working try a different route, and you shldnt want to diet the rest of your life, so you really need to decide if you could maintain 125 and not be miserable, or if 130 should be a comfortable number that you dont have to kill yourself for...
  • kimandal99
    kimandal99 Posts: 52
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    Thanks so much everyone for your responses. It sounds like the overall consensus is that I may be working out too much and may not be eating enough. I do feel like I am always starving which I am sure is because of the amount of excersize I am getting. But, I am afraid to not excersize too. If I am gaining while doing this much, what will happen to me if I decrease the amount? Scary thought!

    As far as my calories go, I am on a 1200 calorie allotment now, but I always earn an additional 500-1000 extra depending on the day. I never eat them all, but I would say I am averaging about 1400-1500 calories a day total with using my work out calories.

    I do go over my sugars everyday. Seems impossible not too- especially with my sweet tooth. I get alot of sugars through fruit and yogurt too. I am a huge snacker so I tend to have something small like oatmeal for dinner which allows me extra calories at night for a 7pm snack of wine and cheeze its. (My favorite). I am deseperately trying hard to cut that out, but I feel like if I worked out for 2.5 hours that day, and ate light all day, I should be able to enjoy my snack at night, right?

    As far as sleep goes, I am exhausted so I am usually in bed by 9 or 9:30pm and get about 8.5-9 hrs of sleep every night. I thought excersize was supposed to give you energy, but unfortunately, it makes me exhausted by 9 at night.

    I would be happy to open up my food diary but not sure really how to do that.
  • kategardella
    kategardella Posts: 13
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    It sounds maybe more like you're not undernourished, but malnourished... which means you're getting enough calories but not the right kind. It doesn't matter if you're eating enough if you're not eating the right things. I'm a cheese lover too, and I do have a sweet tooth, but it's really important to get a good balance of everything. Keep carbs in your diet, but choose healthy ones like spelt, quinoa, lentils or barley. Carbs are integral for intense workouts. Also... cheese and yogurt are good - but make sure you're not eating too much dairy, it slows down digestion. Stock up on veggies - fruits are super high in sugar which might also be detrimental. Balancing what you eat is just as important to weight loss as working out... stay healthy and good luck!
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Just a thought, have you had your thyroid checked? When I was eating good calories, exercising and still gaining, I found the problem to be something beyond my control. Once my thyroid, cortisol levels, and adrenal's were balanced, I was back on track. That much exercise increases your cortisol levels, which makes your body store fat. I'm of the belief of the muscle weight more than fat is an excuse - a lb is a lb, but the fat lb is smaller, so your weight doesn't get less but your body does. I agree that you need to take measurement.

    I'd also suggest a relax day, a hot bath.. a massage, skip an exercise day and treat yourself to your mind and body rather than fitness.

    You may want to also use more cinnamon, as it balances blood sugar if you are eating your sugar max. You may also try to increase your fiber and your proteins if you are exercising that much.

    My other question would be what is your water intake. I'm at 24oz an hour and that really made a big difference in the pounds.
  • kimandal99
    kimandal99 Posts: 52
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    Just a thought, have you had your thyroid checked? When I was eating good calories, exercising and still gaining, I found the problem to be something beyond my control. Once my thyroid, cortisol levels, and adrenal's were balanced, I was back on track. That much exercise increases your cortisol levels, which makes your body store fat. I'm of the belief of the muscle weight more than fat is an excuse - a lb is a lb, but the fat lb is smaller, so your weight doesn't get less but your body does. I agree that you need to take measurement.

    I'd also suggest a relax day, a hot bath.. a massage, skip an exercise day and treat yourself to your mind and body rather than fitness.

    You may want to also use more cinnamon, as it balances blood sugar if you are eating your sugar max. You may also try to increase your fiber and your proteins if you are exercising that much.

    My other question would be what is your water intake. I'm at 24oz an hour and that really made a big difference in the pounds.


    I do drink a ton of water- all day. I would say probably 4-5 water bottles ful (which is at least 80 oz a day. I feel like that should be enough. Never thought about the thyroid question. I know my mom has had issues in the past with her thyroid. I may have to look into that. I will probably consider taking a day off of excersize soon (as soon as I can get back down 5 more pounds) but until then, I can't stop. I would feel so guilty to have a day with no excersize calories burned.
  • tishamarieann
    tishamarieann Posts: 12
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    You are not helping yourself by not taking a day off, everyone has mentioned that, it gets obsessive at that point when you cant take a day off, not good mentally or physically at all...... :wink:

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